MEXICO CITY – The Mexican navy has detained 15 Cuban men found aboard a small, home-made boat just off the tip of Mexico's Yucatan peninsula.

The navy said Thursday that the Cubans' vessel was first sighted by a fishing boat.

Navy personnel removed the Cubans from the craft Wednesday and took them to a naval station near Cancun, where they were turned over to immigration agents for processing.

Mexico signed a pact with Cuba in 2008 promising to deport illegal Cuban migrants. Before, Mexican generally only briefly detained Cuban migrants and issued them a 10- to 30-day exit order, giving them time to make their way to the United States.